Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun Season 4

Episode 18

Parents and guardians have been known to spring some pretty intense things on their kids, especially in anime. “You're a candidate for demon king” is definitely up there, though I'm not sure whether it's better, worse, or equal to all those anime parents who seem incapable of letting their kids know they're dating or getting married. (Often to someone with children of the opposite gender, the same age as their own.) Either way, there's a big difference between “you're coming to a fancy dinner” and “I'm presenting you to powerful people as a candidate for demon king.” Sullivan's generally been a great grandpa, but not telling Iruma about this is a strike against him.

And Iruma is definitely taken aback – while Leizi and Razberry have considered answers to the Thirteen Crowns' questions, poor Iruma is at a bit of a loss. Not that it's his fault that no one knows what he means by wanting the Netherworld to be like Babylis – they all immediately think he's backdoor putting Sullivan forth as a candidate, but what he actually means is that he wants people to get along and have fun while learning together. It's not that different from at least Razberry's answer, really. Only Henri and Azz's mom are in any position to understand what he's saying (Bachiko not being an actual Crown), and of those two, Henri isn't likely to be impressed because Iruma is, in his mind, a threat to Daddy's Little Girl.

Of course, the boys' answers aren't actually what the Crowns care about; the real test appears to be how much they eat. That makes a lot of sense – gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins, after all, and nothing tests that like piling a feast in front of three teenagers. On that front, poor Razberry is way behind Leizi and Iruma, much to his shock, as the Sukima shows us. But given that the preview indicates the start of an idol arc, this first half of the episode appears to exist for down-the-road setup purposes. We need to know that the Crowns are making moves at the same time the Fingers are and who the contenders are. But beyond that, it seems like the more important storylines are still going to happen with the misfits and Babylis.

Clara is ready for that – she's completely aware that she'll be a second year soon, and she wants the entire Iruma Squad to be the best senpai they can be. It's an unusual moment for Clara, who doesn't typically think about power and the future, so we could take it as a sign that she's growing up, albeit in a very Valac way that still involves roleplaying and a game of murder house. But she really wants the incoming class to see how amazing Iruma is. She's excited to move up a year, as is Asmodeus, especially since they'll all still be in the same class; Misfit Class assignments are apparently forever. The first years need to realize that “misfit” is now an honorable title, and she's got ideas to make that happen.

It's rare to see Clara have a serious moment like this, albeit for a Clara-value of “serious.” It says a lot about how comfortable she is with Iruma and Azz that she can trust them to understand how much it means to her and to fully grasp the fact that she is being serious in the first place. Her previous arcs have been about her social insecurities: that no one ever took her seriously and that she was generally classified as “weird and annoying.” Now she has friends who love her and see her for who she really is, and the whole school just watched her prove herself onstage. Azz may be getting sillier as the series goes on, but Clara's the one really coming into her own. I hope she gets a part in the idol arc – Ameri's going to, so why not Clara as well?

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Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.